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Over halfway through the campaign, The Bees find themselves in dreamland.

Following four wins in their last five outings, and a Samba striker scoring the goals, suddenly Bees fans are dreaming of thoughts of trips to Milan, Munich and Barcelona next season.

A emphatic three-nil win over the Black Cats moved Keith Andrews' side into the fifth spot in the Premier League – a position that was sufficient to secure Champions League football last season.

Solely table-toppers Arsenal have gathered more points over the past half-dozen matches.

There's a significant distance to go yet but Brentford are squarely in the race for continental football.

Few was predicting this last summer.

Thomas Frank had left for Tottenham after seven years in charge, a period in which he had not only got the club to the Premier League but also cemented them in the elite division.

Club captain their Danish midfielder left for the North London club and attacking duo Bryan Mbeumo and Yoane Wissa – who scored a combined of 39 goals in the previous campaign – were out the door, joining United and Newcastle United respectively.

Specialist coach Keith Andrews was promoted to replace the Dane, while there was no striker among the off-season arrivals.

A season of difficulty, possibly even relegation, was forecast. But here we are in the new year with the club in the top five.

So, how have they managed it?

Igor Thiago's Historic Campaign

The club's decision not to bring in another striker was in part down to circumstance, with one forward's move not being finalized until the final day of the window.

But they also were aware they had a £30 million striker already chomping at the bit.

Igor Thiago joined from Belgium in the summer for a then-record fee, but was hindered by fitness issues in his debut campaign, going without a goal in his initial outings.

Thiago has set about making up for lost time this season, though, with his brace against Sunderland taking him to 16 league goals – the highest tally by a Brazilian in a single English top-flight campaign.

Given the fellow Brazilians who have come before him, that is a remarkable feat, especially with seventeen matches remaining.

"He has been a breath of fresh air," former Liverpool midfielder Danny Murphy said. "He is a physical specimen, quick, powerful, but technically better than people think. Excellent with his feet, either foot, he can score with both. You can see he's full of confidence. These numbers are fantastic. He must be so pleased. That's a big compliment to him."

That only Erling Haaland, Harry Kane and Kylian Mbappe have scored more in any of Europe's top five leagues to this point underscores the standard he is operating at.

And it is not just the quantity but the timing of the goals that have been so pivotal for his team.

His first goal against the Black Cats was his 7th first goal of a game of the season. Considering how often we are told the importance of the initial strike in a game, having someone you can rely on to take that early opportunity cannot be overstated.

Before the game against their opponents, no player to have attempted at least thirty efforts this season has a better shot accuracy rate than the striker's 59.1 percent.

He finds the target. Achieve that consistently and the goals will – and have – come.

Considering the hardships he had in his youth, where he labored in construction to provide for his family following the death of his father, perhaps it should be unsurprising that pressure on the pitch is something he handles with ease.

"Our scouts deserve a lot of credit for the kind of players they bring in and characters," Andrews said. "It is really notable. He is a really unique person who has adapted to life very well. He has had to earn this path. He has worked for his journey and grafted. He has got real determination about his personality. He is developing his abilities constantly and we are learning more and more about him. He is a largely complete centre-forward."

Andrews Proving Doubters Wrong

Igor Thiago is the headline act but the team are not and have never been a single-player team.

While they had star players – a host of talent – under Frank, they were always seen as a team stronger than the sum of their parts.

The fear was that once the manager left, that may not be the case, and that the collective quality of Brentford's parts alone might not be enough to avoid relegation.

As a result, appointing their set-piece coach, with a blank managerial CV, and just a twelve months at the club was seen by those outside the club as a gamble.

A maiden role is a challenge for anyone, let alone when it comes in the Premier League and having made the jump from specialist coach to the top job.

But given that Ipswich Town manager one candidate was the only other alternative that Brentford looked at, they were clearly confident they had the correct candidate.

To date, as often seems to be the case with the key decision makers at the club, it looks as if they were vindicated.

Andrews won just one of his first five league games in charge but big home victories against United, the Reds and Newcastle have followed.

Results that, following their excellent recent form, could prove all the more important in the pursuit for European qualification.

"We are in fine fettle and playing really good. We are playing with courage and conviction in everything we do with and without the ball," Andrews added. "We're pleased with how we are going but we want to keep striving."

In a league where the European spots and the lower mid-table are currently separated by just a handful of points, they have little choice, because things could rapidly look very different.

But, for now, Brentford are defying the odds. And the longer that continues, the closer to fruition those dreams of the continent will become.